Monday, June 16, 2014

Early Summer Garden Flowers

The drought here is starting to take a toll in the garden, and unfortunately we still have not received any official word about rationing. Luckily most of the plants and flowers in the backyard are well suited to the climate and relatively tough, so maybe we can ride it out until the rains (hopefully) return in November.

But let's celebrate the here and now with Jane and friends....
A small bouquet plucked and pruned from the early summer garden - peachy yellow alstroemeria (growing in the same spot since the late '80's) nestled in among branch tips of golden cotinus (which seems to do better here in our foggy summers than its showier burgundy relative).

This is my favorite location for fresh flower placement - right next to the kitchen sink, where so many hours seem to be spent.....
Help yourself to an almond if you like.

Jane: Out here Peruvian lilies are the "mint" of the flower world - plant it once and you'll spend the rest of your gardening days controlling the spread. And alas, the cotinus does not flower - a smokeless smoke bush? - as the summer never heats up enough for it to reach its full potential.... Nice turnout for FITH this month!

Your alstroemeria and cotinus are the perfect complement to each other. Something new for me today...cotinus. I am immediately googling this beauty. I learn so many new things in Blogland! Smiles...Susan

Pretty flowers! My sister is a produce buyer in California and the drought has really messed up the cherry crop this year, so I've heard all about it. It's fun that you have alstroemeria growing - I see that in our grocery stores a lot and buy it quite often because I love it.

Yes, there was no cherry crop in certain parts of California this spring not only because of the drought but also due to the exceptionally warm winter - not enough chill hours for the trees to go deeply dormant.The newspapers are full of stories about farmers tearing out entire almond orchards - trees - as there is not enough water to keep them alive.